De-Escalation Training: Why It’s Important!

As fueled by the media, many in the public would like to believe that police officers don’t even consider trying to defuse a situation. De-escalation training provides police officers with an alternative way of resolving with situations, when possible, without further use of force.

All you have to do is turn on the TV or listen to the radio and it seems like Officer Involved Shootings (OIS) of poor, innocent minorities are more common than active shooters. Despite the fact that a recent study by the Washington Post shows that nearly twice as many White Males were shot by police officers than the next nearest category, there is still public outcry over nearly every OIS.

Many police officers have also become understandably more concerned for their lives following protests by hate groups that openly call for the killing of police officers. As a result police officers have been assassinated:

July 7, 2016 – Five Dallas Police Officers were killed by a sniper. The assassin said that he was upset about Black Lives Matter and wanted to kill as many white police officers as he could.

December 20, 2014 – Two New York City Police officers were ambushed and killed while they sat in their patrol car. They didn’t have time to get to their weapons.

De-Escalation Training May Help Defuse a Powder Keg Ready to Blow

Prior to the calls for the killing of officers, Several police departments were already focused on the use of military equipment and tactics in response to growing police concerns over terrorism, active shooters, and civil unrest.

Certain segments of the public are becoming more aggressive and openly issuing threats to police officers, while many police departments are adopting a far more aggressive, military approach to policing.

All things considered, it seems like a powder keg ready to blow. The result will
undoubtedly be more violence between police officers and civilians.

Police De-Escalation Training Provides an Alternative.

The Time for De-Escalation Training Has Never Been More Necessary

Rather than taking the instinctive approach of meeting force with a greater amount of force, de-escalation training provides an alternative. Officer training should be focused on defusing a situation with the least amount of force possible.

Granted, not every situation can be handled without the use of force. However, de-escalation training provides police officers with another way to pacify a potentially violent situation. It also offers community relations benefits and a return to community policing principles.

When more non-violent arrests are made it also goes a long way toward countering concerns of police militarization.

De-escalation training can also protect an officer and the department he works for from liability. Police officers have a moral and legal obligation to resolve situations with the lowest amount of force possible. When officers try to de-escalate, successful or not, they demonstrate concern for the mental and physical well-being of citizens.

Everyone wins when officers are able to de-escalate a situation before it gets out of
control.

Police officer de-escalation training could mean the difference between the next violent protest and everyone coming home safely.